| Statue of Christopher Columbus | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2015 | |
 | |
| Artist | Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo |
| Year | 1957 |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Subject | Christopher Columbus |
| Dimensions | 370 cm(12 ft) |
| Weight | 2 ton |
| Location | Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| 37°48′10″N122°24′22″W / 37.80278°N 122.40611°W | |
| Owner | San Francisco |
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Pioneer Park, San Francisco, California.
The statue was placed in the park in 1957, donated by the city's Italian-American community. The statue itself was sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo (1902-1979) of Verona, [1] one of Benito Mussolini's hand picked ceremonial bodyguards known as the "Black Musketeers." [2] [3] Colbertaldo doubled as the Musketeers's sculptor, producing statues which commemorated the organization. [3] The statue in Pioneer Park was cast in Verona and then shipped to San Francisco. [4] A second Columbus statue done by Colbertaldo is in Miami's Bayfront Park. [5]
In 2019, the statue was doused in red paint as an act of protest. The restoration cost about $70,000. [6]
On June 18, 2020, the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) removed the statue following the removal of other controversial statues during the George Floyd protests. [7] Rachelle Axel of the SFAC has said that the statue was removed as it "doesn't align with San Francisco's values or our commitment to racial justice" and in light of recent threats on social media to throw the statue off Pier 31 and into the San Francisco Bay. [6] Further, it was put forward that Columbus is not an appropriate historic symbol to the area or to the United States of America because he never set foot on the respective soils. [8] [9] After its removal the statue was put in storage for preservation and possible relocation. [10]
Coit Tower is a 210-foot (64 m) tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, overlooking the city and San Francisco Bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 2008.
The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, California. The commission oversees Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, The Civic Art Collection, and the Art Vendor Program.
Pioneer Park is a 4.89-acre (19,800 m2) park crowning the top of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. It was established in 1876 in celebration of the United States Centennial. Prior to establishment of the park, it was the site of the Marine Telegraph Station. The main feature of the park, Coit Tower, was completed in 1933 using a $118,000 bequest left to the city by Lillie Hitchcock Coit in 1929. A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was placed in the park in 1957, and removed in June, 2020.
Bayfront Park is a 32-acre (13 ha) public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay.
The Pioneer Monument is a granite monument supporting bronze figures and reliefs created by Frank Happersberger and financed by the estate of James Lick. It is located on Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin streets in the Civic Center of San Francisco, California, next to the San Francisco Public Library. It was dedicated on November 29, 1894. A highly controversial component, Early Days, was removed in 2018.
An outdoor 1992 bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus by Joe Incrapera was installed in Houston's Bell Park, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was later removed in 2020 after a history of vandalism.
Catherine Michele Stefani is an American attorney and politician from San Francisco. Stefani has served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 2018, representing District 2, which includes the neighborhoods of Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, the Marina District and Laurel Heights.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, in Boston's North End, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. On June 11, 2020, the statue was removed for an undisclosed period after it was decapitated by protestors on the evening of June 9, 2020 during the George Floyd protests.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Richmond, Virginia in 1927, where it stood until 2020 when it was torn down by protestors in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and thrown into a nearby lake.
A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1931. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi.
A 1959 statue of Christopher Columbus by Alfred Solani was installed on the Columbus State Community College's downtown campus in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The monument is one of three in Columbus commemorating the explorer. The statue was removed June 19, 2020.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. It was produced by the sculptor Egidio Giaroli in Rome, and was cast and molded in the Italian city of Pistoia. The statue was unveiled on October 12, 1957, and was removed in June 2020, its status and future currently is unclear, and its impromptu removal controversial and the subject of political debate.
A statue of Christopher Columbus stands in the Bayfront Park of Miami, Florida, United States.
A statue of Christopher Columbus by Mario Zamora was installed in Chula Vista, California's formerly named Discovery Park, in the United States. The statue has been vandalized multiple times. It was removed and placed into storage in June 2020. The park named after Columbus's so-called "discovery" of America was renamed in 2022.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Columbia, South Carolina, United States as part of the Columbus Quincentenary. The memorial was removed and placed into storage in June 2020.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was a memorial in Washington Park in Newark, New Jersey, within the James Street Commons Historic District. It was made in Rome by Giuseppe Ciochetti and presented to the city by Newark's Italians in 1927. The statue was removed by the city in June 2020 to prevent its toppling in a Black Lives Matter protest.
Media related to Christopher Columbus statue (Pioneer Park, San Francisco) at Wikimedia Commons
